My family and I will be attending a family reunion in the summer of 2023 in northern Montana near Havre. We live in southern Oregon. Our usual route is to drive north to Portland, cut east to Umatilla on I-84, north to Ritzville, then east again on I-90 through Spokane then north to Highway 2 and then east to Havre.
However, I’m giving some serious thought to taking a (very) circuitous route through northern and central California, Yosemite and then across… I don’t know. Northern New Mexico / southern Utah and then up to Grand Teton NP and Yellowstone maybe? We would have about 3 weeks to make the trip, with the last 5 days or so devoted to the reunion and the drive home to southern Oregon. So call it two weeks to drive through California / Nevada / New Mexico / Utah / Wyoming / most of Montana. From northern Montana we would likely return via Tacoma. It’s a day’s drive from Kalispell to Tacoma, and 6 hours from Tacoma to the Umpqua Valley.
This idea began when my wife said she wanted to visit both Yosemite and Yellowstone. Thinking about it a bit it occurred to me that rather than making two disparate trips we could make a road trip of it and see both. The trouble is I’ve never travelled through that part of the country and really have no idea what’s worth seeing (Death Valley? Grand Canyon? Arches NP?) and what’s worth avoiding (Vegas?). We’ll be driving so we’ll packing light and probably staying in cheap motels most of the way. Since we’ll have ~2 weeks to do all that driving I really have no idea what is feasible and what is not. We aren’t really city people so have no desire to see Vegas or San Francisco or other urban areas. My wife has it on her bucket list to visit all of the national parks in the US, and I’m sure we can scratch off a few on this trip. Still, money and time is a consideration.
All of this is predicated on the assumption that most if not all of the Covid-19 restrictions are lifted by then. If not then we will adapt accordingly. We’ll be driving a GMC Terrain with AWD but have no desire to do any off-roading, with the possible exception of seeing a couple of well-visited ghost towns in Montana — Castle Town in particular.
Therefore, I’m hoping to pick the brains of more experienced Dopers and get some ideas of hidden gems, must-sees, things to avoid, and hints/tips/tricks to make such a long road trip pleasant and safe. Other than Yosemite, Yellowstone and northern Montana nothing is mandated or set in stone.
That sounds like a great trip if you can tolerate the long hours of driving. I would definitely recommend picking particular points to stop and explore for a few days rather than driving through every day and trying to stop and see things for a bit at a time. The northern Arizona/Southern Utah route would be my preference for maximizing scenic beauty and avoiding Las Vegas, and if you don’t mind meandering you can navigate northern New Mexico and western Colorado as well, but if you do end up going through Las Vegas, Great Basin National Park is an out-of-the-way park that should get more acclaim than it does, essentially the Yosemite of Nevada.
I would personally recommend that you make the Big 5 Utah National Parks the focus of the trip; you can head from Yosemite across to Nevada and then down to Saint George and across Hwy 9 through Zion NP and up through Bryce Canyon, Grand Staircase Escalante NM, Capitol Reef NP, Arches and Canyonlands, and then if you have time head down from Moab to various areas like Natural Bridges NP or Goblin Valley State Park (where the mine scenes in Galaxy Quest were filmed; real location shooting even though it looks like weird CGI backdrop), and from there Monument Valley (used in so many films I can’t count them) and through northern New Mexico or western Colorado. If you want to camp there are plenty of locations (although camping in the Big Five National Parks definitely requires reservations) but there are also plenty of hotel and B&B options along the way.
Grand Canyon is a bit of a stretch—you’ll basically spend a day going from Saint George to the park, but if you are going to do that you might as well spend a night in Flagstaff, too. Else, devote some time to meandering around Colorado and then head up through Wyoming; unfortunately there are no direct north-south interstates or major highways west of I-25, but just plan to take your time and absorb the scenery through Bridger-Teton, Grand Teton, and Yellowstone (prepare for crowds and traffic in the latter, but still worth it for a one-and-only trip).
I’ve never been to Harve but it looks to be up near the Canada border, so you might as well go across Hwy 2 to Glacier NP, which for my money is every bit as scenic as Yosemite but with a fraction of the crowds. From there I assume you are familiar with the lay of the land; I always enjoy Umpqua National Forest and a stop in Eugene but I assume you have your favorites.
I’m posting from the UNF right now, I work in the Forest so I am quite familiar with it. Next time you’re up this way, let me know and I’ll treat you to lunch.
Glacier is wonderful and I’ve been there several times; the first time I drove the Going to the Sun road was in a 1975 VW bus. That was fun. It’s always been crowded in the half dozen or so times I’ve visited. I assume Yosemite will be exponentially worse in July.
This itinerary has serious potential. Monument Valley is on my bucket list.
Keep in mind that there are many restrictions on access to the major parks in the summer to avoid overcrowding. Getting into the Valley in Yosemite, or parking near Old Faithful in Yellowstone, any motorized access to the valley in Zion, just getting in the gate at Arches is difficult. You’ll need reservations for the shuttle (if they’re allowing reservations in advance) or get there wicked early in the morning. If you can arrange to stay in the parks near where you want to visit you’ll avoid some of the logistical challenges.
Consider the more remote areas of the parks, and go off hours if you can. Otherwise you may find yourself in traffic jams, or waiting in line for a shuttle.
Glacier has traffic, Yosemite will be stop and go in the summer. Still worth it but don’t plan to zip through it.
Yeah, getting to popular locations first thing in the morning is definitely a necessity. I try to go in the off-season when children are in school but even that has become a challenge. Zion, especially the east side, will definitely be packed, and Bryce Canyon and Arches are one-way in and out. I really like Capitol Reef and Canyonlands (Needles District especially) because aside from being a geologist’s dream (and for Capitol Reef, a fossil hunter’s as well) they are remote enough that they aren’t nearly as crowded.
It would’ve been even closer in resemblance ~35 years ago, before that stretch of US 6 was upgraded to I-70. Smithsonian magazine ran an article at the time, about how the westbound lanes were being constructed to minimize impact to the terrain.
Or late afternoon. In many places you can just waltz in later in the day after the morning/noon rush is over. On the other hand, it may be very hot at that time of day.
If it’s not already too late, get reservations inside Yellowstone in the middle of the week and shape the rest of your trip around that. Yellowstone really needs 3 days at a minimum.
Staying in Yellowstone is vastly preferable than outside the park. The outsode-the-park crowds show up at 10 and leave by 6. If you are inside inside park, you can get a lot of your sightseeing done before they show up or after they leave.
I wasn’t clear but I meant as a round trip; you’d spend four hours going to North Rim, spend a few hours goofing around, and four hours back, which is a day. Add another two hours each way or so to South Rim. So really, if you want to go to Grand Canyon, it probably just makes sense to hit both sides, spend the night in Flag or Williams, and head back up Hwy 89, which means backtracking to Zion from the east but you cover more ground and get to see Grand Escalade from the south which is a phenomenal view.
What are you planning to do for lodging? Do you want to tent-camp? RV? Motels? Nicer hotels?
Camping reservations in Yosemite in the summer are hard to get. You pretty much have to be logged on first thing in the morning the day they open, repeatedly clicking “refresh.” The Wawona campground is marginally less popular than the valley and still lovely, but you still need to be on top of it. There are some hotels inside the park, but they’re pricey.
I visited a bunch of those other parks on a road trip 20 years ago, so my info might be a little out of date, but I enjoyed them. Your trip sounds like a lot of fun, and it’s good that you’re researching it now. I doubt COVID will be closing parks then; it’s more a matter of your personal comfort level.
Certainly Yosemite Valley - a small percentage of the entire park, but very much its crown jewel - will be. Traffic there is dependably hopeless between 8am and 8pm from around mid-May to late September. If you can get yourself a campsite (they go quickly) or room ($$$), you can park your car and let the shuttle bus drivers cope with the gridlock.
For a beautiful area that’s not so seething with people (though still far from deserted) consider Tuolomne Meadows, a high area of the park reached via Route 120. Still gobs of great scenery and hiking opportunities, though limited tourist services. For a hike you’ll treasure the rest of your life, start at Tenaya Lake and head to Cloud’s Rest - the views from that high point looking west down into the Valley are beyond what words can describe.
If you can make the side trip, you owe it to yourself to visit Rocky Mountain National Park.
70 east north of Beaver which takes you right by Arches National Park (couple hour visit)
Take a short detour at Silverthorne to take US6 over Loveland Pass rather than the Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnel. Right by Empire, take US40 north to Granby, then US34 to RMNP
Once you’re through RMNP make sure you take US34 (not US36) out of Estes Park to go down the best canyon coming out of the mountains into Loveland.
Continue to the 25 and head north to Cheyenne, just north of Cheyenne take the 80 west.
At Rock Springs, take US191 north to Jackson, the Tetons and Yellowstone south entrance.
Oh and at the first national park, get the annual pass. You will save a ton of money.
We will be driving but don’t have the room for much camping gear so our plan is to stay in motels – the cheaper the better. However, I would like to stay in the national parks rather than outside to avoid the aforementioned traffic issues.
I pulled out the 'ol Rand Mcnally Western U.S. road map last night, spread it out on the dining room table, and began using little post-its to mark routes that everyone has suggested. As I’m sitting there my wife comes up, looks over my shoulder at the map, and not-so-subtly suggests that we make a more-or-less straight line across Oregon and Idaho to Grand Teton and Yellowstone, spend a few days there, then mosey up to Havre for the reunion. Looking at the California - Nevada - Utah route, she wasn’t a fan of trying to cram that much driving and that many stops into a 2 week period.
So, Yosemite - Nevada - southern Utah will likely be separate trips. This isn’t to discount anything anyone has suggested, we’ll just divide it up a bit rather than doing it as one large safari.
It looks like reservations for lodging in Yellowstone open 12 months out, so I need to mark my calendar for July 2022 to make reservations for the following year. I’d love to stay at Colter Bay in Grand Teton and at the Inn at Old Faithful. We’ll see what the budget allows.
This may also allow us to spend more time in Montana exploring some off-the-beaten-path sites like the Little Bighorn battlefield and perhaps an extended stay in Glacier.
It is a lot of driving, even for a three week trip. Just driving down to southern Utah and back up to Wyoming is about the same as driving from Portland to St. Louis (although more scenic).
These two desires are mostly incompatible. Staying in the park, assuming you can get reservations for the times you are looking for, aren’t cheap. Some are outrageously expensive. Most parks have historic lodges, camping, and places to park trailers. Only a few have reasonably priced hotel options.
Your best option may be the cabins offered in Yellowstone and some motel options in Grand Canyon are fairly inexpensive. AFAIK there’s no lodging in Arches. Zion only has expensive options, Bryce and Death Valley have options that can be reasonable.
Yeah, I agree those two desires are conflicting. Are you a AAA member? If not, you definitely should be. If so, I’ve found their resources helpful for lodging options, even in the age of the internet.
Arches isn’t really big enough to justify being there for more than a day, and there is plenty of relatively inexpensive lodging in Moab (has probably gotten more expensive, though). Bryce has a couple of resorts right outside the park. But frankly, for a trip like that, I’d consider renting an RV or camping (if that’s your thing) for the flexibility it gives you. There is a lot of cheap Bureau of Land Management land you can park/camp on for free or for a very nominal fee, and you can avoid the crowds and COVID hotspots as you desire.